At least five people were killed and about 40 wounded in Wednesday’s suicide bombing in Lashkargah city in Helmand.

Of those killed, two were soldiers and three were civilians, the provincial governor’s spokesman, Omar Zwak, confirmed.

According to Zwak, the incident happened outside police headquarters, which is close to a Madrassa. He said most of those wounded were students at the Madrassa.

Extensive damage was sustained to a number of military vehicles that were approaching the police headquarters at the time.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a Twitter posting.